Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-02-15
WHEN NIAGARA WAS DRY.
A Remarkable Day. Forty Years Ago. In
the History of the Great Cataract.

A RemArkabie Day. Forty Years Ago, In
the History of the Great Cataract.
"Thirty-nine years ago next spring."
said an old resident Of this village, "a
sight was witnessed at the falls Of Mag
ara that had never been seen before, at
least by people then ON earth, and in all
probability such a sight will never he wit
messed again. II was nothing more nor
less than the running dry Of the great
cataract, or at least so nearly dry that it
is no exaggeration to call it so, in which
condition the falls remained for one whole
day.
''The winter of 1s4s had been one Of
the coolest on record, and such ice has
never been known on Lake Eric since, i
guess, as formed that season. 1t was OF
enormous thickness. 1t was quite late in
the spring before the ice was loosened,
even about the shores Of the lake. One
day. think it was near the end Of
April-a very stiff northeastcrly wind
came up, and its force was so great that
il moved the great fields of ice, then en-
tirely separated from the shores, up the
lake, piling the foes in great hanks as
they moved. The sight Of those ice
banks is described yet 10y those who wit
messed it as one of most awful grandeur.
Toward night the wind changed suddenly
TO the opposite quarter, and grew into o
terrible gale from that direction. The
lakes surface was packed with minia-
ture icebergs, and these were hurled back
by the gale with such tremendous force
that an impenetrable dam was formed in
the neck Of the lake from which Niagara
river flows, and the great current Of
water which finds its way from the lake
in the rushing channel of that stream, to
be dashed over the gigantic precipice at
the falls, was SO held in check that not
more than one-quarter of its usual vol
ume could find q passage through the
immense pack Of ice.
As this pack was stubborn. ii wa
naturally but a very short time before
the falls had drained nearly all the water
out of the river. This, Of course, &C.
Cured during the night, and we people
who lived in Niagara village knew moth
ing of the phenomena until next morn
ing. i remember that ! awoke very
early that morning, with the sense OF
something exceedingly strange expressing
me. II was some time before / discov-
cred that the feeling came from the fact
that the noise Of the cataract was almost
missing. l Jumped out of bed, and on
leaving the house found that scores OF
Others had been awakened by the same
circumstance, and were hurrying toward
the falls TO see what the trouble was.
We found that the great Niagara falls
was only about one-quarter Of its former
volume.
ave had not heard Of the trouble a,
Lake Erie, and the terrible thought that
the falls were running dry created a feel
ing of alarm not easily imaginable. Tho
American channel had dwindled to Q
creek in comparison with its original pro
portions. while the British channel re,
sembled some ordinary river in the
droughts Of August. Goat island was a.
big as two Goat islands, rs the water had
shrunk from every side Of il, leaving O
wide expapse Of wet, Shiny Jagged rocks,
"'ifh Ho tNt Ih tbdt NftuiitN Ifu cstt
seen before. The bed of the Canadian
rapids. far out into the stream. was dry,
as was the space between the lower end
OF Goat island, and out beyond the
tower. The rocks thus exposed w.te
black and forbidding, giving the dry
river bel the appearance Of a tract Of
charred stumps. The Three Sisters
looked forlorn in their enlmnc.-l dinncn.
sionS. The great jet Of water which had
from time out Of mind lpaped into the All
about 300 yards south Of this group oI
islands in the great rapids, and which il
leaping there to-day. was not leapinl
that morning, and. a some one re-
marked that day, the tremendous roar Of
Niagara had subsidized to a moan.
The scene was at once desolatc,
strange and awful TO contemplate. The
picture will never leave my mind. The
whole village was out exploring caves,
dark reccsses. curious formations IN the
rocks and other remarkable features OF
the cataract and rapids that no mortal
eve had probably ever gazed upon before.
These explorations were made safely "a
the very brink Of the Horseshoe rapids.
A Mr.. Holley drove a horse and buggy
from the head Of Goat island clear 10 the
spot where the leaping jet Of water had
always writhed and foamed. He also
cut several sticks of timber near the brink
Of Horseshoe falls. had them hewed there
and hauled them away with four horses.
These sticks-they were large. fine tim,
bers-are in the frame of some house al
the falls now. This remarkable condi
ton OF affairs at the cataract continued
all day. and showed no signs of a chang,
when the people went to bed that night
When we arose in the morning, however
the old familiar thunder of the falls wa.
again shaking the earth as before, and
the river and rapids were again tn,
seething, whirling, irresistible torrent Of
old. The ice in the lake had shifted
again. and some time in the night the
long restrained volume of water had
rushed down and claimed its own"
A Horse Dealers Trick.
A trick which meets with great sue.